Junortoun bush blocks, ready for summer

What a Junortoun block needs before summer

Gum trees shed all year and drop the most through the heat, so bush blocks in Junortoun collect a steady layer of leaves, strips of bark and twigs. Under the trees it builds into a dry mat. Around the house it collects against walls, under decks and in gutters. The CFA's advice for preparing a property is to clear exactly this: leaf litter in corners and doorways, gutters full of leaves, and grass kept short around the home.

Our usual Junortoun visit combines three jobs:

• Gutter cleaning on single-storey homes, scooped out by hand and flushed through, with photos so you can see it's done.
• Leaf litter and long grass cleared from around the house, sheds and tanks, with a short-mown zone around the home.
• Green waste removal: everything raked up, loaded and taken to Eaglehawk, so nothing stays behind in piles to dry out.

Ongoing through the season

One clean-up in spring makes the biggest difference, but on a block with a lot of trees the litter keeps coming. Plenty of people book a second, lighter visit around the start of the new year, or add Junortoun to a regular mowing round so the area around the house never gets away.

Branches overhanging the house are a job for an arborist, not us. We're glad to point you to one.